One-glance verdict
Overvalued
$541.31 our estimate vs market $988.20
Wall Street consensus: $1,180.61 (118.1% higher than our fair-value estimate)
83% above our estimate, beyond the bull case
Fundamentals snapshot
argenx SE
ARGX · NMS · Healthcare · Biotechnology
Current price
$988.20
52-week range
$661.85 - $1,072.75
Market cap
$61.45B
Balance sheet
Healthy
258.36x Strong cushion
Net cash $5.14B. Interest coverage shows how many times profit covers the interest bill.
What stands out
3 Rewards
1 Risk
3 rewards · 1 risks
- Reward Revenue grew 89.6% last year.
- Reward Returns 23.6% on equity, ahead of 83% of its peers.
- Reward Free cash flow was positive in 1/10 years.
- Risk Insider ownership is only 0.0% (peer median: 0.2%).
What this company does
argenx SE
argenx is a medical research company that creates treatments for rare autoimmune diseases, which are conditions where the body's defense system mistakenly attacks its own healthy cells. The company makes most of its money selling its main drug, VYVGART, but its future growth depends on successfully developing and getting approval for the many other potential new drugs in its pipeline (a company's collection of products in development). This is important because success with these new drugs could lead to significant new sources of sales.
How the company got here
argenx was founded in 2008 by three scientists with the goal of creating new medicines for severe autoimmune diseases, which are conditions where the body's own defense system attacks itself. They focused on developing special types of therapies called antibodies. To fund their research and growth, they listed the company on the stock market in both the United States and Europe. A major turning point came in 2021 when their first medicine, VYVGART, was approved in the U.S. to treat a rare muscle-weakening disease called myasthenia gravis. This success established them as a commercial-stage company, meaning they now sell a product directly to patients.
What it actually does
argenx develops treatments for people with serious autoimmune diseases. Think of it like this: your immune system has soldiers (antibodies) that are supposed to fight off invaders like germs, but in autoimmune diseases, some of these soldiers get confused and attack your own body. argenx's main product, VYVGART, works by reducing the number of these harmful antibodies. This helps to lessen the symptoms of the disease. The company is also researching other potential medicines to treat a variety of similar conditions.
Approved Therapies
This is the company's primary way of making money right now. It centers on their approved drug, VYVGART, which is used to treat adults with certain rare and serious autoimmune diseases that cause muscle weakness. Patients receive this medicine through an infusion (a drip into a vein) or an injection under the skin. The vast majority of the company's revenue (the total money it brings in from sales) comes from this single product. This part of the business is focused on getting the drug to more patients around the world who need it.
Pipeline and Research
This part of the company is like its laboratory for future products and doesn't generate significant revenue yet. It includes all the potential new medicines, or 'product candidates', that are still being tested in clinical trials (studies with people to see if a treatment is safe and effective). The company has several of these candidates, such as empasiprubart, which is being studied for other autoimmune conditions. argenx also has an 'Immunology Innovation Program' where it partners with academic researchers to discover new ways to treat diseases. This segment represents the company's investment in its future growth.
What management is betting on now
The company's leadership is focused on a long-term plan they call 'Vision 2030'. A key part of this strategy is to get VYVGART approved for more types of autoimmune diseases, which would allow them to help more patients and increase sales. They are also heavily investing in their pipeline (the set of drugs currently in development) to bring new, different kinds of treatments to the market. The goal is to move from being a company with one main product to a company with multiple successful medicines treating a range of immune conditions.
Price history
How the share price has moved
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Is it cheap or expensive?
Fair value $541.31 vs current price $988.20
Wall Street consensus is the average analyst price target: $1,180.61 (118.1% higher than our fair-value estimate).
Our most-likely fair value is $541.31 a share — about 45.2% below today's price of $988.20, so the stock currently looks expensive (overvalued).
Is it drowning in debt?
Healthy
Net cash $5.1B - more cash than debt. Interest coverage 258.4x.
Net debt
$-5.14B
Interest coverage
258.36x
argenx SE's profit covers its interest bill about 258.4 times over. which is stronger than most peers shown here.
Healthy
Worse cushion
Baseline
Better cushion
ARGX
BASELINE
argenx SE
Total debt $47.00M Interest coverage 258.36x This is the baseline the peer rows are being compared against.
Total debt $2.71B Interest coverage 84.52x -67% vs ARGX Carries about 3.1x less debt cushion than ARGX.
Total debt $1.98B Interest coverage 342.44x +33% vs ARGX Carries about 1.3x more debt cushion than ARGX.
Total debt $26.25B Interest coverage 11.43x -96% vs ARGX Carries about 22.6x less debt cushion than ARGX.
Total debt $5.27B Interest coverage 20.49x -92% vs ARGX Carries about 12.6x less debt cushion than ARGX.
Total debt $8.36B Interest coverage 9.23x -96% vs ARGX Carries about 28.0x less debt cushion than ARGX.
What you should know
The case for and against ARGX
3 Rewards
1 Risk
Rewards
-
Revenue grew 89.6% last year.
-
Returns 23.6% on equity, ahead of 83% of its peers.
-
Free cash flow was positive in 1/10 years.
Risks
-
Insider ownership is only 0.0% (peer median: 0.2%).
The numbers
All the key metrics, grouped by purpose
Tap any ? icon to learn what it means.
Valuation
How expensive the stock looks
P/E (TTM)
37.69x
Forward P/E
28.46x
P/B
183.56x
P/S
11.56x
EV/EBITDA
954.72x
PEG ratio
1.21x
Profitability
How much profit each dollar creates
Gross margin
59.1%
Operating margin
32.0%
Net margin
32.3%
ROE
23.6%
ROA
11.6%
Health
Liquidity and balance-sheet strength
Debt / equity
0.01x
Current ratio
5.12x
Quick ratio
4.52x
Total debt
$47.00M
Total cash
$5.18B
Growth
How the business has been compounding
Revenue TTM
$5.32B
Revenue 5Y CAGR
116.2%
EPS TTM
26.22
EPS 5Y CAGR
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Cash flow
How much cash the business throws off
Operating CF TTM
$685.19M
Free CF TTM
$573.51M
FCF margin
10.8%
Dividend
Shareholder payout
Yield
—
Payout ratio
0.0%
Last ex-div date
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